Processing condition inspection and optimization method of damage recovery process, damage recovering system and storage medium

Abstract

A processing condition inspection method of a damage recovery process for reforming a film having OH groups generated by damages from a predetermined process by using a processing gas includes preparing a substrate having an OH group containing resin film, measuring an initial film thickness of the OH group containing resin film, performing a damage recovery process on the substrate after measuring the initial film thickness, measuring a film thickness of the OH group containing resin film after the damage recovery process, calculating a film thickness difference of the OH group containing resin film before and after the damage recovery process, and determining whether processing conditions of the damage recovery process are appropriate or inappropriate based on the film thickness difference.

1 . A damage recovering system comprising:
 a silylation processing apparatus configured to reform a film containing OH group generated by damages from an etching or an ashing process by a silylation process;   a film thickness measurement device configured to measure a film thickness of the film;
 a transfer device configured to transfer a substrate having the film to the film thickness measurement device; and 
 a control unit which includes:
 a controller having a micro processer; 
 a storage unit storing control programs; and 
 a user interface by which one of the control programs is retrieved from the storage unit and executed in the controller, 
 
 wherein the control unit is configured to control the damage recovering system to perform: 
 (a) determining an optimization condition of the silylation process; 
 (b) transferring the substrate into the silylation processing apparatus; 
 (c) setting the silylation processing apparatus to the optimization condition of the silylation process, and 
 (d) performing the silylation process on the film by the silylation processing apparatus, 
 wherein said determining the optimization condition of the silylation process includes:
 (a-1) preparing a substrate having a resist film containing OH group; 
 (a-2) measuring an initial film thickness of the resist film; 
 (a-3) performing a damage recovery process on the resist film by using a processing gas containing a silylation agent after measuring the initial film thickness, wherein a film thickness of the resist film is increased after performing the damage recovery process; 
 (a-4) measuring a film thickness of the resist after the damage recovery process; 
 (a-5) calculating a film thickness difference of the resist before and after the damage recovery process; and 
 (a-6) adjusting a processing condition of the damage recovery process performed by using the processing gas containing the silylation agent such that the film thickness difference of the resist film before and after the damage recovery process has a value corresponding to an optimal processing condition based on previously obtained data for a relationship between the thickness difference and the processing condition of damage recovery process performed by using the processing gas containing the silylation agent, and 
 
 wherein said adjusting includes adjusting the processing condition such that an amount of increased film thickness of the resist film after the damage recovery process is within a tolerance range. 
   
     
     
         2 . The damage recovering system of  claim 1 , wherein the film containing OH group generated by the damages is a low-k interlayer dielectric film. 
     
     
         3 . The damage recovering system of  claim 1 , wherein the resist film is a KrF resist film. 
     
     
         4 . The damage recovering system of  claim 1 , wherein the film thickness of the resist film after the damage recovery process is larger than the initial film thickness due to reaction of the processing gas. 
     
     
         5 . The damage recovering system of  claim 1 , wherein the damage recovery process performed on the resist film is carried out at a temperature of 120 to 350° C. 
     
     
         6 . The damage recovering system of  claim 1 , wherein the damage recovery process performed on the resist film is carried out at a pressure of 1 to 50 Torr (133 to 6666 Pa).